12.18.2009

On the Fifth Day of Christmas The Busty Baker made for me... Caramel Pretzel Bites!

‘Tis the season for lots of holiday parties. Whether it’s a party at work, or a party with friends and family, chances are you’ll hit up, or host at least one social gathering this season. And chances are, you’ll be met with the same old tired cheeseball , veggie tray, or bowl of nuts as snacks. Why not serve up something different? Why not set out a bowl of Caramel Pretzel Bites?

The perfect balance of sweet and salty, bite-sized pretzels are wrapped in chewy caramel, and then dipped in chocolate. What’s not to like? Add a bit more of a crunch by rolling the dipped pretzels in chopped nuts, or add a festive touch with some colorful sprinkles. They‘re a beautiful and tasty addition to any party.

My only complaint—they’re time consuming. I almost gave up after rolling out just 10 caramels. Luckily Boyfriend was there once again to save the day, and mastered the art of rolling out 5 at a time to make things go so much quicker. (A much quicker, easier method? Look near the apple section of the grocery store for those caramel apple wraps. It's already rolled out for you--just cut and wrap around the pretzel.) My first thought about these was that they weren’t really worth the effort, but after eating a rather shameful amount of them, I definitely think they were. They’re completely addicting, and I found myself at work wishing I had brought some with me to snack on, then completely binging on them when I got home. They’re that good. So serve them up, or bring them along to your next gathering. You'll be the hit of the party!

1. Unwrap the caramels, then using a rolling pin, roll out each one into a 1/8-inch thick oval. Wrap a rolled-out caramel around each pretzel nugget, pinching the ends to seal.
2. In a double boiler over simmering water, melt half of the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add the remaining chocolate, remove the top of the double boiler from the saucepan and stir until smooth.
3. Place the almonds, if using, in a shallow bowl. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Using a fork, dip a caramel covered pretzel nugget in the chocolate to coat, tapping off any excess chocolate. Transfer the pretzel to the almonds and toss to coat; place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzel nuggets, reheating chocolate as needed. Let stand until set, about 3 hours.

OneOrdDay- I was going to call you OOD but that just sounded weird lol. Yeah dipping them in caramel before dipping them in chocolate definitely would have knocked them right off the list of things to make. But rolling out the caramels are fairly easy. Especially when you have someone else do it for you! :P

And Boyfriend--they're still sitting on the kitchen table. If you don't come to get them soon, I'm going to eat the ENTIRE batch myself.. so please take them away from me!

My mom and I make a similar treat every year! If you look around the apples in the produce section, chances are you'll see caramel apple wrappers. Just take the wrapper (its already rolled out for you) and cut into pieces to wrap on your pretzel. Super easy! We've used these the last few times we've made pretzel bites.

I put the caramels on a cookie sheet that I'd covered in parchment paper and then put them in the oven (middle rack) on lo broil. I kept checking them to see when they were soft enough to smush. Once they were soft, they were really easy to mold around the pretzel. Next time I'll only do 1/3 of the caramels at a time in the oven because they cooled down before I could finish and I had to reheat some of them.

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The Busty Baker is a newly 30-something retail slave who spends most of her downtime covered in flour in her tiny apartment kitchen, compulsively checking Twitter, and talking to her cat. Someday she'll figure out what she wants to do with her life, but until then, she'll continue to pawn her baked goods off on anyone who will take them.